PUSHING IT FORWARD: ILLicit Creatives Claiming Space on the Streets of Manhattan, Part II

In this ninth post in our new series, PUSHING IT FORWARD — featuring ILLicit creatives claiming space on NYC streets — we return to Manhattan. Pictured above are Wombat, ZigZag and Toney. Several more Manhattan images by ILLicit creatives follow:

Layne

UWONT

MQ

Ost, Lex and Ansotto

Eok, 2DX

Dase 429 

Zesto

Bat–Ola, Abys, Show2, & OFace

Post by the Pushing It Forward Collective

by lois via Street Art NYC

CREWLEAKS: RIOT GIRL ATTACK

• Crew: RGA (Riot Girl Attack)
• Founded: In the middle of summer 2017, in İzmir.
• Country: Türkiye.
• Original members: Jaku, Rikid, Hemon.
• Current members: idem.
• Philosophy: Bond of sisterhood and the merging of different styles.
• Tradition: Fast bombing nights meeting up after not seeing each other for a long time.
• Collective memory: The early days of the crew, we were in Izmir, we were painting the metro together for the first time. It was a very dark environment, and it was difficult to see anything. We didn't even take our glasses. One of us looked up and saw a man standing still, pointing at us. We keep and eye on the man for a while and then continued painting. The strange thing was that the man did not move and kept pointing at us. We were stressed and couldn't understand. We finished quickly and went out, and realized that it was not a human but a statue of Atatürk. Bullshit funny moment ahaha. And another: one day we were bombing, early in the morning. The building we painted was a brothel, next to a church. The people looked out the windows when they heard the sound of the spray and the sex workers in the building came down to talk to us. While we were talking and painting, a lot of people gathered in the back and stared at us. When were about to finish, there were people fighting behind our backs and the church attendants were trying to stop the fight. Then the sex workers chased the people who stood and watched us for a few streets. Strange combinations in a short time hahaha.

by mtn-world via Montana World

WHAT YOU CAN’T MISS FROM THE HISTORIC BEYOND THE STREETS EXHIBITION IN LONDON

After successful exhibitions in Los Angeles and New York, Beyond the Streets touches down in the British capital with a historic event. A journey through the history of graffiti and urban art by means of a dizzying selection of artists ranging from the New York pioneers to the contemporary street bombers of the London scene. The ultimate showcase for graffiti, street art and more.

Beyond The Street London: from February 17th to May 9th, 2023

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No more and no less than the renowned and distinguished Saatchi Gallery in London has stepped up to receive Roger Gastman's ambitious project, Beyond the Streets. The magnificent Kings Road palace is the setting in which the history of graffiti has been reviewed —actually making history and writing a new page in the international dissemination and promotion of art linked to “graffiti writing.”

“The story of graffiti and street art can’t be told without highlighting the significant role London, and the UK in general played in revolutionizing these cultures and continuing to spread the word of their existence. Pushing the global narrative has always been of importance to us and we’re honored to continue telling our story at Saatchi Gallery, whose prestige and impact are unmatched in the UK"

Roger Gastman, BEYOND THE STREETS Founder

A SELECTION OF UNPRECEDENTED ARTISTS

Roger Gastman pays homage to the most important creative revolution in modern history with a unique selection. From the primal and current work of graffiti pioneers such as Lady Pink, Futura2000, Daze, Revolt, Zephyr or Crash to its contemporary transition with famous artists such as Mode2, Todd James, and Ces. Obviously, there was also a resounding representation of the most current urban art, with names such as HuskMitNavn, Felipe Pantone, Pose, Dabs & Myla or Imon Boy. Worth noting are the surprising installations like Priest's, where human-sized toys immerse you in an endearing universe, or Petro’s, which humorously exacerbates Lo Life culture.

BEYOND GRAFFITI...

Unavoidably, the most conceptual and artistic aspect of urban art is also on display with works by Shepard Fairey, André Saraiva, Faile, Paul Insect and Escif. The ambitious proposal also features other expressive street culture media, with a selection of photographs by Estevan Oriol and the late Dash Snow among others; tattoos, with a triptych by Mr. Cartoon; and a selection of flashes by Bert Krak; or music, with an installation dedicated to the Beastie Boys.

VINDICATING VANDALISM.

The icing on the cake was undoubtedly the tribute to London's illegal graffiti, which took over the fourth floor with paintings featuring some of the quintessential "bombers" of the English capital: The notorious DDS' 10foot, Tox and Fume. His paintings were framed in an installation with elements extracted directly from subway tracks. Exhibited on a glass table, the original photographs of Nema TPG-MOAS' most influential subway pieces were also found, in a space traversed vertically by the canvases of the New Yorker, Katsu, painted with a drone. Works by Vhils and Delta accompanied this area to which was closed off during the press session prior to the inauguration.

AN UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT

The evening brought together a handful of celebrities, in addition to the majority of the participating artists, along with some of the most select of London's urban culture. A true party with a balanced mix of authenticity, people and fashion, in which more than one person made sure to take a souvenir from the "giftshop"... some paying and some for free.
by mtn-world via Montana World

Faces in NYC Open Spaces: Jorit, Toofly, Muebon, Blanco, Vince Ballentine, Albertus Joseph and Lexi Bella

Pictured above is a segment from Italian artist Jorit‘s superb visual ode to hip-hop legend KRS-One. Several more images of faces that have surfaced on NYC public spaces in the past few months follow:

Ecuadorian artist Toofly in Astoria, Queens with the Welling Court Mural Project

Thailand-based MUEBON in Bushwick with JMZ Walls

Self-taught Cuban American artist Blanco on the Lower East Side

Brooklyn-based Vince Ballentine in Prospect Heights with Underhill Walls

NYC-born, NJ-based Albertus Joseph in the Bronx with Boone Avenue Walls

Brooklyn-based Lexi Bella at First Street Green Art Park

Photo credit: Lois Stavsky

by lois via Street Art NYC

Painting an evil…

by DokeTV via DokeTV

by via Pgh Graffiti

by via Pgh Graffiti

FIRE AT WILL: PABLO NAKE

• Name: Pablo Nake
• Crew:
• City-country: I'm from a small town, Cájar, in the belt of Granada, Spain. But this is just a place, my real homeland are Jacin Megías and Manuel Ferrer, my parents, that's where I'm from.
• Active since: I started tagging in 1996 but it wasn't until 1997 when I did my first piece.
• First piece:  I only have a very bad picture. At that time only a few had digital camera and almost everything was analogic. The piece was a Nake with the letters in blue and white. Before that I only had seen graffiti a couple of times. The one that marked me the most was a Jam held in a well known hall in Granada where graffiti writers from different parts of the country came and brought new tricks I had never seen before. There were only a few magazines, no internet, blah blah blah blah I'm very old ha ha ha ha.
• Favorite piece:  I have no predilection for any of them, it's like asking me for my favorite child. I love them all equally (pieces and daughters). But I love to paint on Paper, canvas, flask wall, brick, concrete (mmmm concrete makes me shiver), and last but not least  (and it's true that I've painted a few and it's been a long time since the last one) the surface that moves on rails is the favorite of any graffiti writer. I have painted for private and public entities, even the facade of the town hall of Aldeire, although modest for the small amount of inhabitants, receives a significant amount of tourism and that represents a responsibility and a challenge that I love to take on. I also painted a small chapel in Castilléjar and many other smaller but no less important pieces, such as the courtyards of many schools and institutes where I think it is so important that they are spaces with color. But the highlight of my career is yet to come. I am reaching my artistic maturity.
• Style: This is a pending issue. I findhard to define myself about style. I do characters, realism,but also letters, some mode pastel, some 3d style, design, ignorant style wich I love but i don't do wild style, I have a lot respecto to do that.
• Partners in crime: Reti, Elniñodelaspinturas, Drew, MaríaDie, Rakis, Cer2, Wars, Ribon, EC13, Rambo, LJDA crew, ADT, Mase....
• Favorite cap: Hardcore fatcap and transversal fatcap.
• Personal motivation: What drives me to paint walls? Many times on the street, when we were starting out, we were asked; - why do you do it? And I never knew how to answer that. At the beginning, I think it was to feel accepted by others, it was a way to belong to a group, that youthful or teenager need to feel included, but soon it was a matter of self-improvement, trying to do better and better, achieving new goals. Later the applause fed the ego and everyone likes that, also, almost without realizing I began to be paid to paint and today it is my job. But if tomorrow I won the lottery, I would continue painting and I think what would motivate me to do it is that I think I do fucking great graffiti and it would be a shame if no one saw them lol 😆 this is the graffiti ego.

 
by mtn-world via Montana World